‘Mácula’ explores a family’s silence after an uncle’s disappearance

Mariana X. Rivera was still developing in her mother’s womb when her uncle disappeared. She grew up sensing an unexplained sadness without knowing its source, until she filmed her mother’s eyes and heard the family story.

“There was a family shame, and I didn’t know what had happened,” Rivera says. That discovery led her to make Mácula, a documentary short nominated for an Ariel Award by Mexico’s Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences.

The film follows Rivera’s mother as she gradually loses her vision. Its title refers to the macula, the part of the retina that allows the eye to focus images. For Rivera, it also becomes the starting point for an exploration with her mother, uncovering events that had been silenced and had shaped the emotional memories surrounding her gestation and birth.

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There was a family shame, and I didn’t know what had happened.

“What happens to memory when one decides to stop remembering?” Rivera asks. Making the film required trust. She told her mother that she would not expose or harm her, while acknowledging that the disappearance was not only her mother’s story. It had also become part of Rivera’s own life.

Rivera, an anthropologist and researcher at Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, said she had sensed sadness within herself that did not seem to belong to her and could not explain its manifestations. After seeing the short, her mother began telling her more of the family’s story. Mácula is screening this week at the Contra el Silencio Todas las Voces film gathering and will continue its festival journey in countries including Russia, Bolivia and Moldova. It is also competing for the Ariel against La mar, Las voces del despeñadero, Mujer de barro and Toda la vida para siempre. Rivera said she has no expectations for the award and values the film’s visibility most.

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What happens to memory when one decides to stop remembering?